Let’s offer up the facile argument that, because most young black men in America are not killed by overzealous neighborhood watch volunteers, the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death are not worth our discussing. Let’s pretend that unarmed black men are not killed by law enforcement-typesall the time.

Let’s note that New York City once had 2,200 murders a year and now has 400, and erroneouslyimply that this is thanks to New York’s stop-and-frisk policy. Let’s imply that asking poor black New Yorkers—all blacks, really—to live under a constant cloud of suspicion is for their own good, and tell ourselves that this is an unavoidable, acceptable tradeoff.

In short, let’s take a terrible event and make it a festival for all our ideological and racial ax-grinding and a showcase for our inability or unwillingness to leave our political silos. Let’s not cite any evidence that the conversation about Trayvon Martin has been mostly heedless and blinkered, but pat ourselves on the back about our fearlessness and honesty anyway.

Yes, Rich Lowry, you are right. This conversation is exactly what the country needs.

Molly Redden is a staff writer with The New Republic. Follow her on Twitter @mtredden.